Music Tuesday: Nirvana, Katy B and Rock in Rio
Nirvana’s Nevermind Turns 20
Is this the album that launched a thousand flannel shirts (or, ahem, quite a few more)? In a word, yes. Seattle’s grunge scene had been bubbling quietly until “Smells Like Teen Spirit” began making forays into late-night play on alternative radio stations around the country back in 1991. Then Nevermind released, grunge became a household world and suddenly all kinds of bands were aping the loud-quiet-loud dynamic the Pixies invented and Kurt Cobain so successfully emulated. Two decades have not diminished the album’s power, nor its hold on the popular imagination. We’ve got the entire album in various forms for you today.
The dubstep vocalist and burgeoning British pop star is storming the charts in Europe, and she’s poised to make waves in the U.S. this autumn. But for all Katy B’s high-energy dance cred, indie filmmakers Dig For Fire uncovered something much less bombastic in this acoustic video: her raw talent. The video quietly portrays the alienation of the publicity circuit -- we see her in photos shoots and makeup sessions -- and then perches on the edge of Katy B’s hotel bed one morning as she sings along to her own recording. It may not sound like much, but it’s strangely transporting.